Sloane Grammar School boy, if you seek your memorial,

look around you.

DON'T FORGET!! -

PLEASE CHECK THE ANNOUNCEMENTS BOARD AT THE FOOT  OF THIS PAGE FOR ANYTHING IMPORTANT and, after you Log In, the CALENDAR OF EVENTS PAGE FOR DETAILS OF FORTHCOMING EVENTS. 

If you're having trouble logging in because you've forgotten your Password, click on Forgot Password? inside the Classmate Login box that appears after you click   Sign In   and you'll be Emailed a link to reset it.
 

You'll find other helpful tips under REMINDERS below.
 

    
The Sloane

Hello and Welcome to

Mark Foulsham's

Sloane Grammar School website

If I built it I knew you would come

A School that invited loyalty

 
Gone But Not Forgotten

'Men are we, and must grieve when even the shade

Of that which once was great is pass'd away.'

William Wordsworth

On the Extinction of the Venetian Republic

You may think you're done with the past but the past isn't done with you!
 

"The merits of a school are judged as much by the men it produces as by their achievements as boys" - 

(Old Cheynean D.J. Cowie, March 1929)
 

Register and link up with old school friends again and become part of Sloane Reunited.

If you were a pupil or member of staff at Sloane you qualify to register for the website. Click on Missing Classmates at the top of this page to see if we've been expecting you. If you see your name click on it and follow instructions. If your name's not there click on BECOME A MEMBER to learn more and then click the ADD NAME button to start the ball rolling or click Contact Us at the top of the page, read what you see then complete the box at the bottom of that page to ask me to add your name to the list.

It's Free, it's Easy, it's Secure

and

You're Never Alone As A Sloane
 

If you're a member, click on an image (     ) at the top for more. 

Here's what you'll find -

  = Messages waiting for you. The red bubble shows how many.

  = Website activity. Check for things you may have missed.

  = Member functions like Profile, Contact, and Password changes.

      AND -

  If you're already a member please remember to keep your Email address up to date using Edit Contact Info, to be found by clicking on  the  image at the top of the page. 

 Please don't forget to use the Notify Me page under the  image to make selections that will help you keep in touch as well as help you enjoy all the website has to offer.

     You may already have the latest version of Adobe Flash Player but your browser no  longer uses it automatically and it will not be supported at all after 31st December, 2020. From that date Google has confirmed it will completely block Flash from being able to run under the Chrome browser as will Mozilla for their Firefox browser and Microsoft for Internet Explorer and Edge. The Members Online feature uses Flashplayer (as do some animations and slideshows) so if it can't be seen clearly in the bottom right of your Home Page, click your mouse on what you can see and you'll be prompted to run Flashplayer. Agreeing will see the Members Online window re-appear. The same applies to animations and slideshows that don't show automatically. Use your Search Engine to search the web for how you allow Flash automatically in the browser you use but some browsers will ignore your choice anyway if you've chosen 'Allow', others, like Opera or Brave, will not. To check how this site handles Flash, click on the Padlock or Not Secure wording that precedes this website's Domain Name in your browser's Address Bar and set Flash to Allow or Ask (default). Click on Site Settings and under Permissions it also shows the same choice.  HTML5 (Hypertext Markup Language) is the likely replacement for Flash and hopefully, this website will be converted to it before the deadline for the loss of Flash.    

     Please remember to Log Out when you leave the site by using the Log Out button to be found under the  image at the top of the page. 
 

         AND FINALLY, IF AT ALL POSSIBLE, -

Please let a close relative know of your participation in the Sloane website and show them how to use the Contact Us page to notify me in the sad event of your death. Not only will this allow me to notify other members, it will also put a stop to any website generated emails finding their way to your Inbox. Thank you.

Come on in! 
Don't be late! 
This is one detention 
You'll be pleased to take.
                  

         
A WARM WELCOME 

to fellow Cheyneans and passers-by, from the Official Sloane Grammar School 1919-1970 Old Cheyneans and Friends web site.

Mark Foulsham, at Sloane 1963-70, created this site in August 2008 to record for posterity all that I can, and for all those who attended Sloane or simply have a Sloane connection, to share and enjoy. Feel free just to browse or, if you feel you qualify to join us, make full use of the site by becoming a Registered Classmate. Click on the Click Here to Register button above to start the registration process. It's Free!

I'll also be happy to send a personal invitation to anyone else with a Sloane School Chelsea connection who you think might like to join us. Just enter their Email address in the MISSING CLASSMATES box to your right and click Send Invite.  

We may not understand why but memories of our days at Sloane remain with us while others do not. Whether they're good or they're bad, I'd like to give all old boys the opportunity to keep those memories alive.

 Aspirations and Objectives

Sloane never had a motto and although our school badge is based on the lion rampant and boar's head of the Cadogan family crest their motto, Qui Invidet Minor Est or He That Envies Is Inferior, is not really appropriate so I'll adopt the one to be found on the Coat of Arms of the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea as it suits us nicely -

Quam Bonum In Unum Habitare

(What A Good Thing It Is To Dwell Together In Unity) 

It is hoped, in some small way, to be able to have similar objectives to those stated for the first issue of The Cheynean in December 1926  -

"To record faithfully the major activities of the School, to promote and foster a corporate spirit in the School, to excite a greater keenness both in the games and in other phases of its social life, and to serve as a link between present members of the School and the Old Cheyneans".  -

and also to bring together, once again, old friends and classmates, and those of us who have outlived the school and share a common interest in its history and its future.

Sadly, I've no memory of having ever sung or even heard a school song but apparently one was written by music Master Mr Seymour Dicker in 1928, and was first sung in July of that year by pupil J E Bush. What became of it after that first performance is a mystery but it contained the lines -

"Salve, the School and its scholars so keen,

 Long may they keep its memory green."

 If you've any memories of Sloane you'd like to share, use the Contact Us page to send them in and, whilst you're there, register for the site as well. 

Once you've registered, you can activate the Instant Messaging feature that allows you to hold a 'real-time' online conversation with anyone else who has logged on to the website. You can also send a message to someone else on the site via the Message Centre or by using their Profile. Click on their name on the Classmate Profiles page then click on the red 'Send ? a private message' at the top of their Profile.

After you've registered, why not take a look at all the Classmate Profiles ? Even if you don't know the person involved, the information they've put on their Profile can be interesting, illuminating and fun, and often brings back memories of something you thought you'd forgotten about.

If, at any time after becoming a member, you're unsure about anything click on this Using This Site link for an explanation or contact me direct via the Contact Us page.

 * * * * * * * *
 

 Why Not Take a Look at Where your Classmates are Living?

Find out the Postcode of a Classmate from their Profile (if they've agreed to let everyone know it) then Click on the link below, enter the details where it says 'Address', then Click on 'Go'. Not every country is covered yet and those that are have limited coverage, but it's worth a try.

Here's the link. Have fun - http://www.vpike.com/

* * * * * * * *


The Sloane News

Headlines making the Headlines

Sometimes you just have to ask yourself why newspaper owners don't employ decent Editors and Proof Readers. Yet, I suppose that if they did we wouldn't get to see such gems as these -

* * *

HOME FRONT NEWS

Just when you think you've got the NHS off your back and they look to have steadied their ship along comes something else to disappoint. I had a text from the NHS to say that, as I was considered to be likely to have a 'significantly weakened immune system', I should contact my GP to arrange a third Covid vaccine. This was not a booster, they said, but a third dose of the Covid-19 vaccine. I confidently phoned my doctor's surgery and, after at least three minutes of recorded garbage including endless attempts to get me to use the Internet rather than phone them direct, eventually got to speak to someone. I'm not even sure who it was as they didn't introduce themself. Could have been a cleaner for all I know. I told them about the text I received and was politely informed that I couldn't have a third jab as 184 days hadn't passed since my last one. I will have to wait until the end of November at which point they expected me to phone them again to arrange the vaccination. I pointed out that as a 70 year-old man the chances of me remembering to do that were remote and suggested they ring me instead. After much dithering, she agreed to my suggestion. Whether she actually rings me is another matter. I'm not hopeful.

The day after my phone call to the surgery I received a letter from the Epsom and St Helier Hospital Trust to say that they wanted me to have a bronchoscopy at St Helier hospital on the 28th October at 8.30am. When I pointed out that St Helier hospital is on my doorstep but Epsom isn't so why was I expected to travel miles, I was reminded that hospitals have their own specialisms now and an Endoscopy department wasn't one of St Helier's anymore. I'm in no doubt that they still have the required equipment at St Helier but the NHS would rather I went through the following expensive procedure. On Monday, 25th October I will be visited at home, sometime between 9am and 5pm, by a nurse who will give me a doorstep Covid swab test. If that proves to be negative, I will be collected by a vehicle of some sort at 7am on Thursday, 28th October, taken to Epsom Hospital for my 4-5 hour investigation and returned home by them afterwards. As grateful as I am for their care and attention, I can't help thinking that, as I'm only one of many that this is happening to, the expense involved must be enormous and the money could be better spent elsewhere. We're a little too far down the road for them to give situations like mine a little deeper thought but if this, as a result of Covid and the need to cut back on NHS expense (!) is going to be the way forward for a long time to come, the damage to the NHS and the way it operates is going to take a long, long time to recover from.

To top it all, I was phoned by a member of the Respiratory team who have been dealing with a part of my problems to ask how my breathing had been. I've been quite pleased with the improvement I've seen so I told them so. They seemed happy but sent me notification (no letters in the post anymore but an online letter instead that has to be 'picked up' from a 'drop box') informing me that I would be getting another phone call from them in February 2022. How is anyone meant to remember these things that far in advance?! 

As I sit down to finish this piece, I do so in the safe knowledge that I have just been swabbed by a very hygienic, happy, smiley nurse who, despite her attempts to push a large cotton bud into my brain through my nose, was representative of all that is good about NHS staff.

Enough about the NHS for a while, except for these headlines which may make you think they might just have a few problems -

Both the wife and I have had birthday's recently and cards we received from the kids just about hit the nail on the head as to where we are in life -

Half-term's coming up and I dare say my grandson will expect us to take him somewhere. We took him to a zoo during the Summer holidays but he didn't like it. All they had was one dog. He told me it was a Shi-Tzu. OK, so I made a wrong choice but it didn't stop me pulling him up on his use of bad language. Because of the aforementioned goings-on with the hospital, Olly's probably going to be out of luck with us anyway unless my wife wants to take him somewhere on her own. Try as she might, I still can't see her getting him interested in a trip to the hairdresser's or pushing a trolley down the aisles of Sainsbury's. An early Christmas shopping trip with him in mind might be an altogether different matter........

* * *
 

THOUGHTS FOR THE WEEK

Not many people know it but the late actor Yul Brynner was a lifelong Liverpool FC football fan. They probably also don't know that he never ever used aftershave. 

That's right, Yul never wore cologne.

*

There are two ways to be. One is at war with reality, the other is at peace.

*

God is a comedian playing to an audience that is too afraid to laugh - Voltaire

*

Can't help thinking the gas/electric companies are increasing their prices to compensate themselves for the loss of revenue due to climate change. People are not only cutting back on use because of cost, they're not turning their heating on as early as they used to due to it being not now being as cold as it was at this time of year .

*

A long time ago, people who sacrificed their sleep, family, food, laughter and other joys of life were called Saints. Today, they are called Sloane website administrators.
 

* * *

JOKES OF THE DAY
 

A man was on holiday in Canada when, visiting a native American tribe, he meets one Native American Chief he notices he is older than most.
He asks the Chief many questions, and the Chief replies flawlessly to each one.

Then he thinks of a random date and asks the Chief,

"What did you eat on October 18, 1987?"

The Chief replies,

"Eggs".

He leaves the Chief and goes home. A year later he meets the Chief again. Feeling respectful he approaches him, and says,

"How"

The Chief says,

"Scrambled!"

*
 

A teetotaler was seated next to an Irishman on a flight.
 

After the plane was airborne, drink orders were taken. The Irishman asked for a whiskey, which was promptly brought and placed before him.

The flight attendant then asked the teetotaler if he would like a drink. He replied in disgust,

"I'd rather be savagely raped by a dozen whores than let liquor touch my lips."
 

The Irishman then handed his drink back to the attendant and said,

"Me, too, I didn't know we had a choice."

*

The Pope arrives at the airport far too early to board his flight so he asks his driver on their way to the airport if he could take the wheel for a while because they have time to kill and he hasn't driven a car since becoming the Pope.

Naturally, he's a bit rusty, so he's driving poorly, when suddenly he sees police lights behind him. He pulls over and when the officer comes up to the window his eyes go wide. He says to the Pope,

"Hold on for a minute," and goes back to his car to radio the chief.

Cop: "Chief we have a situation. I've pulled over an important figure."

Chief: "How important? A governor or something?"

Cop: "No sir. He's bigger."

Chief: "So, what? a celebrity or something?"

Cop: "More important, sir."

Chief: "A major politician?"

Cop: "No sir, he's much more important."

Chief: "WELL WHO IS IT!?"

Cop: "Well actually I'm not sure. But the pope's his driver."

*

When NASA was preparing for the Apollo project, some of the training of the astronauts took place on a Navajo reservation.

One day, a Navajo elder and his son were herding sheep and came across the space crew. The old man, who spoke only Navajo, asked a question that his son translated.

"What are these guys in the big suits doing?"

A member of the crew said they were practicing for their trip to the moon. The old man got all excited and asked if he could send a message to the moon with the astronauts. Recognizing a promotional opportunity, the NASA team found a tape recorder.

After the old man recorded his message, they asked his son to translate it. He refused. The NASA PR people brought the tape to the reservation, where the rest of the tribe listened and laughed, but refused to translate the elder's message.

Finally, the NASA crew called in an official government translator. His translation of the old man's message was:

"Watch out for these guys; they have come to steal your land."

*

A Native American chief had three wives, each of whom was pregnant.

The first gave birth to a boy. The chief was so elated that he built her a teepee made of deer hide.

A few days later, the second gave birth, also to a boy. The chief was very happy. He built her a teepee made of antelope hide.

The third wife gave birth a few days later, but the chief kept the details a secret. He built this one a two story teepee, made out of a hippopotamus hide. The chief then challenged the tribe to guess what had occurred.

Many tried, unsuccessfully. Finally, one young brave declared that the third wife had given birth to twin boys.

"Correct," said the chief. "How did you figure it out?"

The warrior answered, "It's elementary. The value of the squaw of the hippopotamus is equal to the sons of the squaws of the other two hides."

* * *
 

The Story of The NEVERWELLS (WHO ARE NEVER OUT OF TROUBLE)

Many years ago I picked up a small book at a car boot sale and now, With two years in the world of Covid behind us, I thought it might be a good time to share its contents with you.

The book in question, published in 1948 (the year the NHS came into being), is titled The Story of The NEVERWELLS (WHO ARE NEVER OUT OF TROUBLE) and was written by William Edwards, a doctor, under the pseudonym Dr. Goodenough.

The Neverwells included mum and dad, their small boy Billy, growing-up Mary and baby Roy, and came into being after the Editor of The People newspaper met two people on a train. One of them was a doctor friend of the Editor's, 'a kindly soul yet a man of the world who has one of the biggest practices in the South of England.' He said: 

"I am rushed off my feet these days. And in most cases I need not have been called in at all, if only people had a simple knowledge about ordinary illnesses."

Later, the Editor found himself talking to a woman passenger with two children -

"They're not too strong," she said, "always under the doctor with one thing or another. It's never serious you know, but the trouble is you can never be sure and so you must call the doctor."

The same night as he had spoken to the two people on the train, the Editor of The People telephoned his doctor friend and asked him if he would become Dr. Goodenough and write for him every week the story of a family - the Neverwell family - about their complaints and how he treated them, and in simple language so that ordinary people could at last learn the elementary things about illness.

For over a year before the book was published, Dr. Goodenough entertained and instructed People readers every week with the story of the never-ending complaints of the Neverwells. There were words of wisdom and understanding in these little features as well. So much so that, increasingly, the People was inundated with letters from readers asking for a book to be written. Hence, the book I picked up some 30 years after it was first published I now bring to you each time I update this Home Page of the website. I hope you find some enjoyment in its pages and can see the comparisons it enables us to make between the way medicine was practiced  back then and how much it has advanced in such a relatively short space of time whilst the personal touch has moved in the opposite direction. This is the second piece in the book -
 

PART 2

Cuts and Bleeding

Mr. Neverwell stumbled into the kitchen. " What's up now? " he cried. A broken tumbler was on the floor, and Mary, aged fifteen, was trying hard not to cry as she bound a grubby teacloth round her hand. The cloth was getting red, and there were red blobs on the floor. " I fell down and knocked over a glass - and look at my hand ! " moaned Mary.

Now, once during the war Mr. Neverwell had attended some first aid classes and although he had not managed to pass out and get a certificate because his mind was usually on other things, he thought he knew all about this one. He grabbed a piece of string and, in spite of shouts that he was hurting, tied it tightly round Mary's upper arm. " That's a tourniquet, " he said, proudly.

But it didn't seem to work too well. The teacloth was now saturated, and Mrs. Neverwell was calling down the stairs.

" Come on, " he urged, rather frightened now, " we'll go to the doctor. "

Supporting a shaken Mary, he hurried to the doctor's surgery and found tyhe doctor had just returned. Dr. Goodenough removed the teacloth and looked at the blood welling up out of the cut thumb. Then he noticed that her whole arm was purple, and, tracing it up, he found the string.

" What the deuce is that for? " he asked, cutting it.

" Tourniquet, doctor. That was right, wasn't it? " asked Mr. Neverwell. He gazed at the girl's hand. The purple had given place to pink and, wonder of wonders, the bleeding had stopped.

" All you did, " explained Dr. Goodenough, " was to use enough force to stop the veins, while not using enough to stop the artery. So the blood was getting into the arm all right, but couldn't get out again - except through the cut, which it proceeded to do. Never, never, use tourniquets, unless you are an expert. You'll nearly always do more harm than good. "

" But how was I to stop the bleeding ? " asked Mr. Neverwell.

" If you just keep your patient quiet, with the cut part raised above the level of the heart, bleeding will stop by itself, unless a largish artery has been cut. Blood clots in a few minutes and the clot seals up the cut. If an artery has been cut and goes on spurting - well, put your thumb on the place it's squirting from and you'll find you can stop it all right. When someone else comes along, get them to make a tight little pad and bind that firmly on, to take the place of your thumb - and Bob's your uncle! But if you let the cut place dangle down and let the patient get all excited and rush about - well, the bleeding goes on. Moral : Always keep calm. "

He had a little soapy water and a bit of cotton wool, and was washing Mary's hand, round the cut.

" Now, we shall have to disinfect it, " he explained. " I don't suppose there were many germs on that tumbler ; but that grubby rag she had round it, must have been teeming with them. Always keep a bit of clean rag, or lint or gauze - preferably in its original packet. Keep it in a tin, so that it can't get dirty, and keep it in the kitchen, or the bathroom, or anywhere where people are likely to cut themselves. Then, when it does happen, you've something clean to put on. It doen't matter much if you don't use a disinfectant on a clean cut - but for mercy's sake don't make clean cuts dirty ones. And, when they are dirty, remember that it's more essential to get rid of the dirt by washing it off, than to dab on a lot of iodine or other coloured antiseptics, which only hide the dirt from view. Anyhow, iodine stings, doesn't it, Mary? " He dabbed on a yellow fluid as he spoke.

" That doesn't, " she said.

"Because it isn't iodine. It's called flavine. It's cheaper than iodine. It's a more useful antiseptic, and it doesn't hurt. Good thing to buy some at the chemists. "

Dr. Goodenough strapped the edges of the cut together with strips of sticking plaster. " That's instead of a stitch. It works quite well for small cuts - but never stick them together with any dirt still inside, or they'll go septic. "

Mr. Neverwell walked happily home, thinking of next Saturday's football match. Alas, her never saw it, for within forty-eight hours, both he and his wife were down with influenza.

Join us next time for another exciting adventure in the Neverwell household, and learn what happened when the flu came to call...............

 * * * * *

 
The Home We Called Sloane
 

The Sloane building seen from Hortensia Road in 1908  

The Sloane building was 100 years old in 2008, although it didn't actually start life as a boys' school until after the First World War, during which it served as a hospital. It still stands and many memories are, no doubt, ingrained in its walls along with the odd name and ribald comment. Who knows what the future holds, despite its Grade II listing on May 7th, 2002. Grade II listed buildings can be altered, extended, or even demolished, but only with Local Authority consent, so it may be that the building is considered historically or architecturally interesting enough for it's fabric to remain untouched. Some consideration may have been given to it having been the first purpose-built secondary school in London, and it is certainly one of only 3% of all ages of listed buildings that was built in the 20th century. Schools generally are seen as a good investment by developers because they're easy to convert. They are likely to be structurally sound because the authorities will have inspected them regularly to ensure they comply with Health and Safety requirements.    

                                                                  
Sadly, Sloane Grammar School for Boys only lasted 51 years, from 1919-1970. Sloane old-boy John Binfield, in one of his poems, writes -

... the school, with
All its past, was sucked into a huge
Turbulent sea of glass in Pimlico
And sank without trace. "full fathom five..

Sea nymphs hourly ring his knell.
Hark, now I hear them. Ding-dong bell".

The exterior of the building still survives in the form we all remember even if the interior doesn't. It would have been wonderful to have been able to celebrate, in 2019, what would have been its centenary as a boys' school, had it remained in existence as such. Unfortunately, for us, it wasn't to be, and the Covid-19 pandemic that gripped the world in 2020 and beyond didn't allow for a late celebration either . Maybe one day...... 
 

Sloane seen from the rear in 2014

* * *
   

This Website And The British Library's Web Archive

Please Note: - The school building still remains but not as a school. I've tried to preserve as much of its history and old boys' memories of it as I can, on this website. You might like to know that once I'm no longer around and have shuffled off to that classroom in the sky, this website will remain intact. Once my monthly payments to the Class Creator programmers cease the site will continue but to compensate them for their loss it will display adverts. If you're still around, you'll still be able to Log In to the site and carry on much as you did when I was alive. Naturally, the site will look exactly as it did (apart from the adverts) on the day I died. What will not be possible are any new members, unlikely as that is, as I won't be here to verify they are who they say they are.

In addition, in 2013 , just before the Legal Deposit regulations came into force, I asked to register the website with the British Library's UK Web Archive as one of historical interest and they agreed. So, when none of us are unable to Log In anymore or the Class Creator business ceases to operate, it will still be available for access by our children and grandchildren etc., as well as future historians, at this address -
 

Web Archiving
The British Library
96 Euston Road
London NW1 2DB
United Kingdom
Tel: +44 (0)20 7412 7184
E-mail: web-archivist@bl.uk

Since 2013, publishers need to give a copy of every UK publication they make to the British Library. Five other major UK libraries may also ask to be given a copy. This system is called legal deposit and it's been a part of English law since 1662.

Print publications for legal deposit can be books, journals, sheet music, maps, plans, charts or tables. Now legal deposit also covers material published digitally such as websites, blogs, e-journals and CD-ROMs.

Legal deposit has many benefits for publishers and authors. The deposited publications can be read inside the British Library and will be preserved for future generations. Their works become part of the nation’s heritage, providing inspiration for new books and other publications.

Unfortunately, in the case of websites, the British Library say that much of the information contained in them cannot be archived for technical reasons. In addition, as almost all this website's pages are Password Protected, it will be impossible for them to be accessed unless I remove that restriction. At some point I will give the British Library's 'web crawler' access to our Password Protected pages to allow it to take a 'snapshot' of the site on a daily, weekly, monthly, quarterly or 6-monthly basis. At the time of writing this, 2020, their system doesn't have the capability to crawl and archive private content that sits behind a Log In procedure. They will noever be allowed access to members' Profiles and the personal information they contain.

The current generation of web crawlers cannot capture:

• Interactive, dynamically generated content
• Content that is only available via a search engine on the website, or some other form submission method
• Some types of JavaScript-driven menus
• YouTube videos, Flash movies and similar streaming audio or video (some audio and video files can be captured, e.g. those embedded via the standard HTML5 <video> or <audio> tags).

Unlike static HTML, which is relatively easy to capture, script code is very hard for traditional web crawlers to analyse, which is why the Library runs web browsers for a limited part of their crawls. Even that cannot capture very interactive web sites, like single-page web applications, or any site feature that needs a remote server to function. In practical terms this means that entering queries into the search box of an archived version of a website will not work. Standard links on the website, however, will work as normal.

Some JavaScript driven menus do not function well once archived. YouTube videos, Flash movies, and similar streaming audio or video are also beyond the capability of web crawlers. However, as members of the International Internet Preservation Consortium, contributors to the UK Web Archive are developing tools which will help capture this content in the future.

Attempts are made to gather all of the objects associated with a website including html, images, PDF documents, audio and video files and other objects such as programming scripts. However, the crawler software cannot automatically gather any material that is protected behind a password, without the owner's collaboration. Web site owners may however choose to divulge confidentially a user ID and password to allow archiving of these areas. So, as I said, I'll collaborate with the British Library to allow them to gather only non-invasive non-personal information behind the password protection if and when their archiving system becomes capable of it .

Should you wish to visit the UK Web Archive to see what it makes available for viewing or if you know of a website that you think deserves preservation, use this link -

www.webarchive.org.uk

* * *

Whatever our own personal reasons for it doing so, the school will still haunt most of us even if it disappears altogether. With that tenuous link, here's a poem that I came across in a copy of The Cheynean -

The Ghost of Sloane

 
When London's asleep and the School very quiet,
No sound of footsteps, no sound of a riot,
No sound of even the shuffle of feet,
No sound of the creak of a pupil's seat,
Out of the darkness the ghost of Sloane
Awakes from rest with a sigh and a groan.
Then up he arises to haunt the School
Climbing the stairs in the guise of a ghoul.
He shuffles and clanks down each corridor
Into the classrooms where stand desks galore.
He examines each desk and checks the boys' work,
Allots ghostly marks in the dark and the murk.

If you ever lose books from out of your desk,
And the teacher upbraids you and calls you a pest,
Just tell him my story, however tall,
Of the white shrouded phantom that haunts the School Hall.

                                                    J. Hollingshead (3C)

As for us, the boys who used to attend our Chelsea school, we probably considered ourselves 'Chelsea men' but I doubt that many of fitted the description in this poem, written when he was in the 5th year by one time Sloane Schoolboy, A R Doubledee. I get the impression he didn't particularly approve of the 'Beatniks' of the late 50s and early 60s that he found himself sharing Chelsea with or, as he called them the 'Weirdies' -                                                                        

 
The Weirdies

The Chelsea man is excessively queer,
He only drinks coffee and doesn't like beer.
He's always "chatting" the girls, and yet
This seems to make him "one of the set".

His unkempt chin and uncut hair
Go with his feet which are usually bare.
If he wears shoes, they've never got soles,
And he's usually found in Bohemian holes.

His outsize sweater is generally black
Contrasting well with his shorty mac.
He wears his clothing merely to show
That he can keep up with the boys of Soho.

To find a girl he doesn't look far,
But into the nearest coffee bar,
Where he's sure to meet a Bohemian "yob".
They're all from Chelsea - what a mob!

The girls with hair right down their backs
Wear irregular clothes that look like sacks.
They walk about wearing father's sweater:
I really don't see why he should let 'er.

Their gaudy clothes of reds and greens
Match up with the style of their men-friends' jeans.
Now that's how it goes with the latest style:
Girls on their faces make-up pile,
The men wear anything they can find -
I shouldn't stare, I should just act blind!

A.R. Doubledee (5b)

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